crowdfunding

It’s not always easy to get people gathered in one place to ask them to donate money. Organizing a gala or golf-day takes months of careful planning and quite a lot of sales savvy to be able to make it worthwhile. There is one way however, that you can reach a lot of donors, all at once, without them having to leave the house and that’s by taking your fundraising to the World Wide Web.

6 Sensational Online Fundraising Ideas

Mobile Donations – Text-To-Give

Convenient, secure, and a great way to raise money, a ‘text-to-give’ campaign allows your donors to give to your nonprofit in seconds, and it is remarkably easy to organize and to set up. There are dozens of reputable ‘text-to-give’ software platforms and you can be set up, and receiving donations in just a few days.

Online Auctions – SOLD!

An online auction is a novel way to reach all your donors without having to go to the expense of organizing a gala, or auction event. If you use one of the secure online auction platforms, you can run your auction by mobile or entirely online.

Giving Kiosk – “I don’t carry cash”

A Giving Kiosk is always a fun way to raise money for a nonprofit at an event, but not everyone carries cash with them these days, and you’ll need to be able to accept credit and debit cards as well as online payments to make your fundraiser a success. With a fully integrated giving kiosk at your event, or even as a part of your website, you can accept donations from everyone. Giving Kiosk is one platform that will help you set up a stand at your function, EpicPay is another, but make sure you find one that is suited to your specific needs.

Crowdfunding – Get Everyone Online!

There are hundreds of excellent crowdfunding sites where you will be able to set up a short web page which details what you are trying to raise money for, as well as your organization. People can donate to your cause and you can offer them ‘rewards’ for different levels of donation.

Matching Gift – Get Businesses Giving

The best way to set up a matching gift campaign is online. First though, you’ll have to do some work in getting businesses involved and ensuring that they are committed to ‘matching’ the donations that you raise with an equal sum. Add some excitement to your fundraiser by putting a time limit on the event. All donations made during a single day will be matched by your business partner. You can also find several websites and platforms that offer this service and will help you set it up.

Set Up a Shop

Use the power of the Internet to help raise money by selling items on an online shopping platform. They are easy to set-up, and even easier to maintain, and the collection of money is fully automated. Whether you’re selling branded t-shirts or other merchandise, you can easily raise additional funds for your nonprofit without having to send your volunteers out into the street, or having to set up stalls and stores in your community.

Crowdfunding, the art of raising money by seeking smaller donations from a large pool of people, primarily through the internet, has changed the face not only of the non-profit world, but even of individuals and businesses. Such a large net of donors can result in millions of dollars being raised in record time.

Crowdfunding Has Joined the Arsenal of Weapons in the War on Ebola

By the end of 2014, more than $3M from donors in 68 countries had been raised through GlobalGiving.org for Ebola relief. Crowdfunding offers everyone interested in a particular cause the opportunity to make a donation and become a part of the movement. For example, an impoverished community in Mozambique made a $200 donation in November, which for them was equivalent to wages for two months.

GlobalGiving is crowdfunding on behalf of 29 non-profit organizations that are involved in Ebola prevention and relief. Donations have come from more than 3,800 individuals around the world. Private foundations have also joined the effort, supporting the globalgiving.org charity organizations. The Sall Family Foundation and Paul G. Allen Foundation each donated $100,000, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation contributed $400,000 and the Leona M and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust gave $2.2 million.

Crowdfunding Builds Institutional Capacity

The GlobalGiving platform does not stop with fundraising. The organization seeks also to strengthen the capacity of local groups and on-the-ground individuals engaged in the daily fight against Ebola. Utilizing the crowdfunding model, GlobalGiving is building networks, helping organizations connect to information and securing access to the latest technologies. An example is GlobalGiving’s outreach to a South Africa technology company resulting in the creation and distribution of an Ebola Care app which helps workers in the field to track, coordinate and manage patient care, follow-up, education, and also to compile data on survivors.

GlobalGiving co-founder says that the power of crowdfunding is not in engaging a large group of people to donate money, rather it is in the crowd itself that can be harnessed to bring to life ideas by pooling diverse resources, experience and intelligence to fight a common cause.